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TEN puts Prison Break on good behaviour

TEN will wait to see how the revived series performs in the US before scheduling it in Australia.

Several readers have been asking about the revived Prison Break series in Australia.

This premieres in the US on April 4th, six years after it was last seen.

TEN is understood to have the rights to the new series but fans may be in for a wait.

A spokesperson indicated TEN has no current plans for the series, with the network keen to see how the series performs in the US.

Sitting on the show will deny TEN some of the show’s diehard fans, who will not be prepared to wait. At a time when The Biggest Loser: Transformed is dragging down network share Prison Break could give it a small boost, albeit for one night of the week.

But TEN is mindful that it’s not always possible to capture lightning in a bottle, second or third time around. 24: Legacy has done little to excite longtime fans of 24. The X-Files was an uneven revival too. It could even be mulling a sale to Foxtel if the show doesn’t work in the US.

There are no guarantees fast-tracking Prison Break is going to fire, and the US premiere falls just days before Easter ratings begin.

Still, the way numbers are looking at the moment -surely it couldn’t hurt?

22 Responses

  1. just cause US shows like 24 and Homeland didn’t work out with the ratings in Australia, doesn’t mean the show won’t rate in the US. they have a bigger population, so their logic doesn’t make sense. not our fault our poulation doesn’t care much for drama shows anymore, all they seem to care about is reality shows. even shows like Supernatural which has been shown at 8:30 since the start has been pushed back to 9:30. Homeland was played at 8:30 and now it’s at 11:30! I think shows where you don’t have to see previous seasons or episodes do better, shows with a continuous storyline are the ones that don’t reach an audience. people seem to watch the ones they can step in and out of, stand alone episodes… at least the ones on Ten anyway.

  2. Can someone tell me what the big deal is over fast tracking please? I’m more concerned about a show being on consistently and shown in its entirety rather than hours after the US.

    1. People like to join in on online discussions about shows, that is with people from all over the world, and find it too easy for shows to be ‘spoilt’ by people discussing plot developments/twists/character deaths etc. on line

  3. Just play it same day as US – being in Easter non-ratings would allow them to see how it goes for two weeks without impacting on the years’ ratings. What do Ten have to lose.

    They should in fact catch up to the US with all their US shows and start airing all of them same day as US – whether on Ten, ONE or ELEVEN – would be a major point of difference for the network which would build over time for them in terms of viewers and ratings – but they’d have to commit and give the idea a chance – not just react immediately and move shows like seems to always be the case now.

  4. Well they can’t really move TBL so thats staying, the shows that follow it rate about 300 -500k (Gogglebox not included as apparently TBL won’t be shown Thursdays). In fact maybe Thursday at 9:30 would be good for it. If it proves okay they could move that to 8:30 when gogglebox ends or play it after SVU if SVU gets the 8:30 slot back. While 7 and 9 will probably rest some shows, perfect chance for TEN to launch it.

  5. What’s the point then? If it’s not shown for several months, people are just going to use “other means” to watch it. The insanity of it all…

  6. Ten are flailing. They are not in a position to be cautious and safe anymore. That’s all they are these days. Their reluctance to take calculated risks is what has cost them their market share. Plus, I don’t get why they keep airing M rated shows after 8.30pm these days when they can now air U.S. drama at 7.30pm. And why are new episodes of SVU being wasted on Saturdays while repeats are advertised for Thursdays?! Utterly baffling.

  7. I agree, needs to be fast tracked straight after the Easter break, I’m assuming by this time they will need a new Sunday night show anyway. I wasn’t a fan of the show past it’s first season but the revival excites me the same as it initially did all those years ago.

  8. Dumb move. Fast track it. The longer they wait – the less ratings it will get as viewers will find other ways to watch it. Including myself, die hard Prison Break fan!

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